It’s been 6 months since my last post and my first post after entering the corporate world. My days in employment have been pretty ‘happening’ (for want of a better word) so far, with the 6 weeks training in Kuala Lumpur being the high point. Presenting to you, 6 anecdotes from an awesome time in KL:
Dooba Dooba: 21
Hours, One crazy performance
12 Midnight – Decide to sing a song for the gala night, the
token Indian “cultural performance”.
2 am – 5 Tam Brahms, 1 Guitar, 1 Flute...singers 1-2 are
tired, singer 3 doesn’t know how to sing, guitarist is irritated, flutist is
trying to keep the others awake
5 pm – Borrowed Guitar is taken back; flutist’s talents have
been noticed, encore requests putting paid to any fruitful practice; Singer 4, the
only non Tam-Brahm, enters the mix.
6.30 pm - Some rehearsal in the hall.....with permutations
of singing pairs tried out. Meanwhile, the just-mollified guitarist is offered
unsolicited tips on playing the guitar, and gets back to uttering expletives.
7 pm – All dressed for the “gala nite”. Guitarist pulls off
a stunner and unleashes the Tam Brahm within him. An explosive mix of the
guitar and the Veshti (South Indian dhoti for the uninitiated) earn him the
moniker of Remo Mama 2.0.
9 pm – Performance exceeds all expectations......no need to
sing at the end, for all South Asian IGs step on to the stage and join in the
singing at the end. Three cheers to SAARC Unity. J
Demolition Dinner:
Hotel Saravana Bhawan
A day long trip to Genting Highlands, which is like Nandi
Hills, except for cable cars, amusement parks, casinos etc. developed at the
peak. Fully famished and tired, 5 Tam Brahms land up at HSB for the first
semblance of South Indian food after arriving at KL. What follows is absolute
carnage. Within 5 minutes, the first order, comprising an assortment of the
major items on the menu is swept off. The Hotel Staff run out of breath trying
to catch up with our speed. The other Indian IGs, following about 10 minutes
after us, are shell shocked. And to round it off, “C’mon Iyer, lets put filter
coffee”.
The Indian impact:
Bus delay in Malaysia
Getting taxis is pretty easy in Malaysia, in Melaka, it was
not. Wait for taxi: 30 minutes. Time left for last bus departure: 30 minutes.
Time required to get there: 45 minutes (accounting for an unexpected traffic
jam). Amidst tension, repeated phone calls to the others, unsolicited advice to
the cabbie, and of course, the final 5 minute sprint to the bus in a crowded bus
station. Of course, the others contributed by holding up the bus for 5-10
minutes with repeated requests.
As they say, Indians leave their mark everywhere.
Arbaaz “Banga” Khan –
The Entertainer
Never more evident than that night in Langkawi.....Banga searches
for alcohol all around the place. Despite his claims of “not being high”, he barges
into our (Mahesh, Bharath and I) hotel room, entertains us for the greater part
of 3 hours. His antics include singing some kindergarten-ish song about
dancing, sky and stars (Refer to Banga for the exact lyrics), makes us dance to
the song, even though Mahesh and I are almost on the verge of dozing off. But
the killer dialogue is:
Banga takes a washroom break, Bharath has ‘somehow’ dozed
off, Mahesh and I are ROTFLing (ok, not on the floor). Banga comes out and asks
“Kya, tum logon ne mujhe lock nahi kiya toilet mein?” [We were actually contemplating the same].
Surrealistic: Siem
Reap, Cambodia
It’s not every day that you get to see an airport
constructed to suit the traditional architecture of that country. It’s not
every day that you get to visit a somewhat “off-beat” tourist location. It’s
not every day that you visit the world’s largest religious structure, and be
overawed by its sheer grandeur and magnificence. It’s not every day that you
visit a fully functional “village-on-water”, encompassing floating shops,
monasteries and restaurants. It’s not every day that you sleep off like a baby
on the boat in the floating village, under the burning sun.
It’s not every day that you are unable to single out any one
experience as the best in a trip. It’s not every day that you get to go to
Cambodia.
Crazy Cabbies
Drinking and driving don’t go hand in hand.....try telling
that to this crazy taxi driver in Phuket. Mr. Cabbie stops thrice on the way to
the Phuket Airport, blabbering excuses like “drank a lot of water, gotta
pee”... and still manages to get us to the airport in double-quick time by
taking us through smaller roads at 120 km/hr, thereby avoiding the traffic jam on
the main highway. Some roller-coaster ride it was.....and we weren’t done. 3
hours later, the cabbie in KL zips through the highway at 140 kmph.
